Important Notice: Front Page Stories and News Updates

Many of our members have noticed a delay in the updating of front page news articles. The staff have previously addressed this in a noticed posted to the forum here, however due to the ongoing delays in updating the front page it is important to address this officially as well.

Our intentions have never been to let updates to Webkinz World, new pet adoptions, or important information slip by our team of volunteers. However, recent issues with the editing software for our Front Page has created a barrier to those updates. Many volunteers have been unable to access the front page editor for over a year, and for others it can be difficult to work with at the best of times. We have yet to find a solution, or resolution, to these software issues and have been unsuccessful in locating the reason why it is affecting specific volunteers and not others.

Because of these technical problems, the volunteers able to access the front page editor and publish stories successfully is limited. This limitation also means that the stories will not be published right away, as our volunteers have commitments to other activities on WI and outside of WI.

This is disappointing for many, and we wanted to extend our apologies and provide a further update to the situation. It is not our intention for these stories to sit idle for so long, but the technical issues are a huge barrier for these updates to happen in a timely matter. The staff who are able to update will do so as soon as possible.

In the mean time, we strongly encourage our members to ultilize the information available in our WIki project and Forums. The WIki project is updated by dedicated volunteers, and features some of the latest and most valuable information about Webkinz World.

Well luckily due to WKN and members posting news here constantly, we're still getting the latest news despite this technical issue. But, Miss Gnomie, why wasn't this announcement made months ago if this was happening for the past year? And many sites have technical issues, but they are solved within a matter of days. So I also don't understand why this technical issue hasn't been fixed yet. Is it because Webkinz Insider lacks the resources? I don't know how fixing technical issues work. I'm no expert. It's not that I don't appreciate the efforts that have been made by the staff. It's just that the inner journalist in me is inching for some answers for some fair questions.

So that's what was wrong! I had been wondering for a long time. I hope it will be solved soon, I always loved this site and it's forum and it'd be a shame to see it go. Worse case scenario, could moving the entire site be an option?

Well luckily due to WKN and members posting news here constantly, we're still getting the latest news despite this technical issue. But, Miss Gnomie, why wasn't this announcement made months ago if this was happening for the past year? And many sites have technical issues, but they are solved within a matter of days. So I also don't understand why this technical issue hasn't been fixed yet. Is it because Webkinz Insider lacks the resources? I don't know how fixing technical issues work. I'm no expert. It's not that I don't appreciate the efforts that have been made by the staff. It's just that the inner journalist in me is inching for some answers for some fair questions.

I just googled and it looks like WI isn't the only site that is having a problem with the software used to run the forums, vBulletin.

MissGnomie - thanks for letting us know. Maybe there are some WI readers who know a thing or two about software and forums that can help you out.

Well luckily due to WKN and members posting news here constantly, we're still getting the latest news despite this technical issue. But, Miss Gnomie, why wasn't this announcement made months ago if this was happening for the past year? And many sites have technical issues, but they are solved within a matter of days. So I also don't understand why this technical issue hasn't been fixed yet. Is it because Webkinz Insider lacks the resources? I don't know how fixing technical issues work. I'm no expert. It's not that I don't appreciate the efforts that have been made by the staff. It's just that the inner journalist in me is inching for some answers for some fair questions.

The reason it hasn't been addressed before on the front page is because it was not a barrier for the majority of our staff, or created a huge delay in front page stories (i.e enough people could access it and post within an acceptable amount of time). As of this moment (and to the best of my knowledge based on discussion w/ other staff members), I have been the only one able to post on the front page without any issues (*knocks on wood*).

We have made some attempts to work around it (switching browsers, updating our browsers, etc.) and there have been attempts to patch the issues by Justin, but we have yet to find what the root cause is. My suspicion is that the software used to edit the front page (and related, the forum software) is outdated and incompatible with many browsers/systems. Without a major change (i.e. moving to new software or upgrading to the latest version of v-buliten, both of which require $$, adaptation to major changes, and possible re-regrestration by members on a new forum outlet) the issue may not be easy to resolve or address.

In the mean time, we'll keep trying to work around it. But I know that I will not be around much as of March, and wanted to ensure the stagnation of front page stories was addressed on the front page by someone who can post....which meant it had to be myself....lol.

The reason it hasn't been addressed before on the front page is because it was not a barrier for the majority of our staff, or created a huge delay in front page stories (i.e enough people could access it and post within an acceptable amount of time). As of this moment (and to the best of my knowledge based on discussion w/ other staff members), I have been the only one able to post on the front page without any issues (*knocks on wood*).

We have made some attempts to work around it (switching browsers, updating our browsers, etc.) and there have been attempts to patch the issues by Justin, but we have yet to find what the root cause is. My suspicion is that the software used to edit the front page (and related, the forum software) is outdated and incompatible with many browsers/systems. Without a major change (i.e. moving to new software or upgrading to the latest version of v-buliten, both of which require $$, adaptation to major changes, and possible re-regrestration by members on a new forum outlet) the issue may not be easy to resolve or address.

In the mean time, we'll keep trying to work around it. But I know that I will not be around much as of March, and wanted to ensure the stagnation of front page stories was addressed on the front page by someone who can post....which meant it had to be myself....lol.

Thank you Miss Gnomie! And I certainly would not want to re-register. But unfortunately, it may be time for Webkinz Insider to go through a drastic change such as a software change.

I do know that vBulletin sites have been hacked by a person named Fortune. He has done some very horrible things to Webkinz Forums through vBulletin. He has also replicates WW items and scams many of the users on Webkinz World as well as users of Webkinz forums using vBulletin. Could someone like Fortune be the cause of these issues, as well?